April 22, 2010

Did Poland’s Plane Crash Signify the Death of Democracy?

In reviewing the events surrounding Poland’s tragic plane crash near Smolensk Russia, I have been mulling over the many aspects of the crash and what it means. As I have been studying the situation, the death of the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his fellow Conservative Party dignitaries seems to have been much more meaningful than the mainstream media has implied. Poland has been an unsung hero and champion of democracy in Europe and as you study some of the history you can’t help but feel the gravity of the moment.

A recent interview with Lech Walesa, the “Father of Democracy in Poland,” offered some solemn words regarding the sorry state of democracy in the United States and what this means for the democratic free world. This coupled with the rise of socialistic globalism in the EU and the recent election of Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine signify that a chapter in world history may very well be coming to an end. The clouds of black volcanic ash that drifted over Europe during the funeral of Kaczynski, his wife and associates rendered international airlines helpless. It may have just been God’s poetic finishing touches to the April 18th funeral and, on a larger scale, it may have been a requiem for the free world as we know it. This may sound extreme, but, before you write it off, read it through.

What did Lech Walesa Warn About?

The Walesa interview, published February 2, 2010, entitled “Walesa’s Warning,”"State Secrets Priviledge" has been continued by the Obama administration, allowing for a seamless, unchecked continuation of corruption. Because of the lack of moral fiber and quality leadership in the US, the death of the conservative leadership of Poland has become more significant on the world stage. Why is that? highlighted the fact that the the US is more of a socialist country in many ways today than a democratic one. Walesa was an incredible freedom fighter who helped lead Poland to independence with the Solidarity Movement beginning in 1980. For him the US was seen as the only source of hope and source of help in their struggle. But that source no longer really exists. In the interview he noted the USA is a different country today: “But they don't lead morally and politically anymore. The world has no leadership.” He stated, and "the government wastes all the money ... building a bureaucracy — just for itself." For one thing, the Bush administration's abuse of the

Poland’s Success Story: Democracy and Paleoconservativism

As a nation, Poland has had a run of incredible success based on its paleo-conservative, democratic, and Christian principles. I specifically use the term paleoconservative because it emphasizes the link between conservativism and moral integrity. There are many Neoconservatives today, neocon politicians, etc., who present a conservative front but seem to have all the moral fiber of a marshmallow. From the inception of the democratic Solidarity Movement in 1980 to the present day, the ideals of freedom, democracy and the stamping out of coruption had been the key elements passed to successive leadership as an Olympic runner passing a baton to an eager fellow athlete.

President Kaczynski was there at the very beginning and served as an assistant to Lech Walesa in the initial stages of the Solidarity Movement. The Soviet style government declared martial law in December 1981 and Kaczynski was detained in an internment camp for most of the following year. As a Christian Conservative, Kaczynski emphasized the strong support of family values and banned gay pride parades when he served as mayor of Warsaw. Though one may not agree with the convictions of paleoconservatives, it is this type of foundation which originally gave the US its strength as a nation. As a sign of Poland’s rich Christian heritage, leaders of each of the mainline Christian faiths, Catholic, Protestant and Othodox, were being flown to the Katyn memorial site April 10th to take part in the ceremony, along with the military and political leaders.

Over successive years the living standards of the Poles grew and Poland became a beacon of independence and democracy to Eastern Europe. Last year when the flu epidemic scare hit Europe and the world, Poland was one of the few countries to assert its right to refuse the untested vaccines tainted with mercury, much to the dismay of the WHO and the pharmaceutical industry lobbyists. Also in 2009, the Polish currency, the zloty, grew incredibly as a sign of Poland’s economic strength and stability in the midst of worldwide economic turbulence. While the average European Union country saw the devaluation of its currency by an average of 4.1pc, Poland’s grew by 1.7pc. Countries such as Ukraine have not been so fortunate in their leadership. A recent WSJ article “Ukraine’s Democracy in Danger” highlighted five major mistakes of recently elected Victor Yanukovich and how democracy is losing there to Soviet style strong fisted leadership. It amazes me how people would voluntarily elect a leader who desires more to control them rather than to liberate them. It reminds me of the account of Joseph Stalin who demonstrated political control by plucking off the feathers of a chicken as it slowly and repeatedly returned to him for a tiny bit of food.

Though criticized, Kaczynski’s euroskepticism helped to ensure economic success: “Poland avoided eastern Europe’s worst lending binges. Kaczynski frustrated some of his opponents by being in no rush to head towards the euro party,” reported the Daily Telegraph as highlighted by Kurt Nimmo. Leaders intent on world governance would be opposed to Kaczynski and his cabinet, for reasons mentioned in Nimmo's article “Did Global Elite Kill Polish President Kaczynski? The reason there were two Polish delegations to the Katyn memorial was because Tusk’s Liberal party and Kaczynski’s Conservative party did not get along. Tusk’s party met with Vladimir Putin in Russia April 7, 2010.

Poland and Russia’s Festering Unhealed Wounds

From another angle, Poland’s strong friendship with the US and it’s bitter history with the Soviet Union are two reasons why Poland has not enjoyed the closest of relationships with present day Russia. The Katyn Forest massacre, which the Polish President and dignitaries were recently coming to honor, occurred 70 years ago, April-May 1940. Approximately 21,800 were murdered in the Katyn Forest in Russia near Smolensk, where the plane went down. This figure was backed up in 1992 when Russsian President Boris Yeltsin released the top-secret "Package №1," documenting the orders to execute 25,700 from prison camps in Poland, Western Ukraine and Belarus, as signed by Stalin and others. A figure of 21,857 was derived from a note from Aleksandr Shelepin’s from March 1959. Of the total killed, 8,000 were officers taken prisoner during the Soviet 1939 invasion of Poland, the rest were mainly Poles arrested for allegedly being intelligence agents, saboteurs, landowners, factory owners, lawyers, priests, and officials. Those chosen for summary execution were the ones who stood for their ideals. They were considered “hardened and uncompromising enemies of Soviet authority.” According to historian Gerhard Weinberg, the reason for the Katyn Forest massacre was that Stalin wanted to deprive a potential future Polish military of a large portion of its military talent. There has been a deep seeded bitterness which has continued to this day, largely because of a reluctance to come to terms with the truth and make resolute apologies. What specific issues would need to be addressed?

Truth as the Basis of Unity and Healing

At the April 18th funeral in Krakow, people took special note of Vladimir Putin. “The normally stoic Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin set the tone with an outpouring of emotion.” Poland's acting president, Bronislaw Komorowski, stated his hope "we will all know the truth about the Katyn massacre." Before a wound can be truly healed it needs to be opened up and treated. Before true forgiveness can take place there needs to be genuine confession and repentance. In 1989, U.S. national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski visited the Katyn memorial along with the Polish association Families of Katyń Victims. Brzezinski stated “Only the truth can serve as the basis of true friendship between the Soviet and the Polish peoples.” As of today, Russia has officially acknowledged the deaths of only 1,803 Poles at Katyn and has declared that the massacre was not a genocide. 116 out of 183 volumes of files gathered during a ten year Russian investigation were classified as private state secrets. In 2008, Polish Foreign Ministry asked the government of Russia about alleged footage of the massacre filmed by the NKVD during the killings. Polish officials believe that this footage is a major reason for Russia's decision to classify most of documents about the massacre. Vladimir Putin has been placed in charge of the ongoing investigation of the crash, but the obvious question is: "If most of the classified documents of Katyn I have not been revealed, from 70 years ago, how can anyone expect that controversial information from a Katyn II scenario would be revealed?"

Neocon News Spin and Independent News Sources

In most of the mainstream articles I’ve read there is a sense that Lech Kaczynski was a good guy but not so smart in flying a twenty year old plane to Russia. The articles imply that the twenty-year-old Soviet-made Tu-154 plane was, perhaps, one of the main causes of the crash. Thus, people are shocked that the president and dignitaries would use such an old plane. After all, the president should fly first-class, right? Well, in light of the attitudes of many self-indulgent and corrupt political officials today, the choice of using a somewhat out of date plane is admirable.

Remarkably, an independent Chechnan, Islamic news source, the Kavkaz Center, was one of the few news portals to do some research and ask tough questions regarding the April 10 plane crash. They cited Israel’s Ha'aretz newspaper and the question of sabotage: "In the first hours after the accident, a possibility of a Russian involvement prevailed in the Polish media because of tense relations between Kaczynski and Putin.” The Maariv, the second largest Hebrew language newspaper in Israel, entitled an article "A smell of liquidation" and stated: "Moscow has promised to investigate, Putin became the head of the investigation committee, but it is unlikely that the truth would be ever revealed.” As a possible explanation for the loss of the plane’s control, The Kavkaz Center noted “Sources in the Polish Ministry of Defense in Warsaw reported exclusively to the Romanian Global News that Russian military carried out experiments in the past with electromagnetic weapons on its military base in the area of the military airfield where the plane of the Polish president tried to land.”

JTA reported on Kaczynski’s strong support of Polish Jews. Israeli president Shimon Peres said: “The State of Israel bows its head, as it partakes in the deep sorrow of the Polish people on the occasion of their dreadful loss." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated: “I knew President Kaczynski as a Polish patriot, as a great friend of Israel and as a leader who was very active on behalf of his people and for advancing peace and prosperity in the world.”

When you look at various Internet video footage of the April 10 crash, many are titled “First Video Footage of Crash.” But what is the real first video footage? There is one anonymous amateur video clip on the Internet shot before the fire trucks arrive and it is quite shocking. It is raw and uncensored, including some swearing, but no more than the average Hollywood movie. Whether you understand Russian or not, you can hear what sound like gun shots at the crash site and you can tell that the one shooting the video is quite scared as he hides and runs away. Are the gunshots merely a warning to passersby? This is one possibilty. Aside from the gunshot sounds, this is the translation of what was said in Russian:

0:30 Damn.

0:43 We’re leaving this place, we’re leaving.

0:47 Get out of here, you bastard.

0:49 Get out of here.

1:00 Swearing

1:12 We’re all going back [away from the crash].

1:18 [Sir], get out of here. We’re all leaving.

1:21 Swearing

Conclusion

When it was decided that president Lech Kaczynski should be buried in Poland’s most honored burial place, the Wawel Crypt, where select heroes and kings lie, there was a bit of controversy. But I don’t know of many presidents who would be willing to sit in prison for a year in seeking justice for their country. And I don’t see any presidents today more dedicated to resisting corruption. Kaczynski was a true freedom fighter willing to stand up for what he believed in and take the consequences. Both the former Katyn victims and the latter are heroes in my book. Whether or not the truth of what transpired in the forest is ever known in the history books, it is already known by God. And God is pleased with those who are “valiant for the truth upon the earth.” (Jeremiah 9.3, KJV)

As a Christian, I believe life on Earth will get worse before it gets better, according to prophecy. I believe repressive governments are satanically inspired, thus the axiom “We wrestle not against flesh and blood…” is my axiom. Nevertheless, as “salt and light,” I desire not to hide the truth but let it shine. I will try to remain true to God’s character in me. I will try to speak the truth in love. I will try to defend the oppressed, to stand up against injustice, to show mercy. God is not pleased with apathy, but passion must be rightly directed. I understand my strength and daily guidance come through walking in the Spirit. No matter how difficult things get, I can live life as an optimist and with joy, because my hope is neither in a political system, nor is it based on any particular living standard, but it is in the living God and His gift of eternal life.